Forging the Modern World A History

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In Forging the Modern World: A History, authors James Carter and Richard Warren offer an accessible explanation of key transformations in global economic, political, and ideological relationships since the sixteenth century. The book is distinct from most world history texts in three important ways. First, it explores the ways in which historians use and produce information. Each chapter delves deeply into one or two specific issues of historical inquiry related to the chapter theme, showing how new primary sources, methodologies, or intellectual trends have changed how we engage with the past. Second, it clearly explains the political, economic, and ideological concepts that students need to understand in order to compare events and trends across time and space. Finally, the chapters are organized around global historical themes, which are explored through an array of conceptual and comparative lenses. While the book chapters proceed chronologically, each chapter is written with some chronological overlap linking it to preceding and subsequent chapters. This strategy emphasizes the interconnectedness between the events and themes of one chapter and those of surrounding chapters. A companion website includes quiz questions and flash cards for each chapter and PowerPoint-based slides for instructors.

James Carter is Professor of History at Saint Joseph's University.

Richard Warren is Professor of History at Saint Joseph's University.

PrefaceList of MapsAbout the AuthorsIntroduction

Chapter 1: The Many Worlds of the 15th Century, 1405-1510 Political and Economic Order on the Afro-Eurasian Supercontinent American Empires of the 15th CenturyConclusionA Few Good Books

Chapter 2: The New Global Interface: 1486-1639 The Conquest Era A World Connected Conclusion A Few Good Books

Chapter 3. The Paradoxes of Early Modern Empire, 1501-1661 Globalization, Guns, and Empire Building Collapse and Restoration of Empire in China: From Ming to Qing Conclusion A Few Good Books

Chapter 4: Production and Consumption in the First Global Economy, 1571- 1701The World's Rural Economies The Sugar-Slave Plantation System Manufactured Goods and the Emerging Global Economy Textiles and the Manufacturing Link between India and Europe The Silver Supply and the Global Economy Political Economy Conclusion A Few Good Books

Chapter 5. Global War and Imperial Reform, 1655-1765 Consolidating the Center: Modernizing Monarchies The Question of Control in the Atlantic Seaborne Empires The Land-Based Empires of Eurasia Conclusion A Few Good Books

Chapter 6. A New Order for the Ages, 1755-1839 What is Enlightenment? The Breakup of British North America The French Revolution and the Rise of Napoleon Independence in Haiti The Collapse of the Iberian Empire in the Americas A New Order for the Ages? The Idea of the Nation-State Freedom and Equality: Paths to Abolition Reform in the Ottoman Empire Conclusion A Few Good Books

Chapter 7: The Engines of Industrialization, 1787-1868 What is Revolutionary about Industrialization? Spinning the Industrial Revolution Story The Opium War and the Transformation of Global Power Relations Conclusion A Few Good Books

Chapter 9: Globalization and Its Discontents, 1878-1910 Redrawing the Map of the World The Struggle to Maintain Sovereignty Radical Resistance to "Westernization" Questioning Empire at its Center U.S. Expansionism, the Buffalo and the Passenger Pigeon Neocolonialism Conclusion A Few Good Books

Chapter 10: Total War and Mass Society, 1905-1928New Theories, Grand Strategy Mass Unrest in Russia, China, and Mexico A Great War The United States and Japan as Global Powers Which Way Forward? Conclusion A Few Good Books

Chapter 11: The Ongoing Crisis of Global Order, 1919-1948 Struggles Over Political Order in the Middle East and Asia Challenges to British Rule in India Nationalism Frustrated in China A Communist Future? The Global Economy in the 1920s The Great Depression Fascism Spreads The Path to Another World War Unraveling Empire as a Key to the Future Conclusion A Few Good Books

Chapter 12 Hot Wars, Cold Wars and Decolonization: 1942-1975 Uncomfortable Allies Plan a New Order The Search for Common Ground Economic Development and Non-Alignment: Three Worlds? Conclusion A Few Good Books

Chapter 13: The Many Worlds of the 21st Century, 1972-2012 The Cold War and 1970s Political Realism Explaining the End of the Cold War Global Economic Integration Conclusion A Few Good Books